A 14-year-old teenager was shot dead, allegedly by police, as Kurdish protesters clashed with the Turkish security forces in the southeast of the country.

A 14-year-old teenager was shot dead, allegedly by police, as Kurdish protesters clashed with the Turkish security forces in the southeast of the country, media and security sources said Wednesday.

It was the latest in a series of deaths casting a shadow over the fragile peace process between the Turkish state and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought a bloody 30-year insurgency for Kurdish self-rule.

The clashes erupted late Tuesday when police moved in on a protest organized by the youth branch of the PKK, in the Cizre district of Sirnak province near the Iraqi border.

The teen was caught in the crossfire as he was returning from work, security sources told AFP.

The victim, said to have earned a living by shining shoes, died in hospital of gunshot wounds to the chest despite efforts to save his life.

Dogan news agency cited witnesses as saying he was shot by police. A 28-year-old man was also shot in the back and is being treated, the sources said.

Three people were killed in December in clashes between Kurdish rebels and supporters of rival party Huda-Par in Cizre.

However it was not clear whether Huda-Par was involved in Tuesday's clashes.